Forget Bitcoin, now your PC can mine for Overwatch loot boxes

The two hottest things in tech and gaming right now are cryptocurrency and loot boxes, and it was only a matter of time before somebody decided to combine the two. GammaNow will let you put your processing power to work in order to earn points toward purchasing in-game items in Hearthstone, Overwatch, and League of Legends.

As with any digital mining system, GammaNow utilizes your PC’s idle resources to process off-site tasks. As that happens, you accumulate Gamma points, which can then be exchanged for good in various games. Right now, your options are packages of 24 or 51 Overwatch loot boxes, 15 or 40 Hearthstone card packs, or 3500 Riot Points. The developers tell Forbes that Counter-Strike and DOTA options are on the way.

Of course, you’re not actually mining in-game goods. Instead, the developers say the processing power is being used to mine the most profitable cryptocurrency of the moment, with the results going directly to them. Aura, the startup behind GammaNow, has a list of investors including Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and RedOctane co-founder Kai Huang.

If you want to try it out, you can enter a beta via the official website. The developers promise the app will smartly stop running when your PC is in use, and that it’ll remain free because they “hate microtransactions as much as you do.”